Akron Reporter

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On May 16, U.S. Representative Emilia Strong Sykes partnered with Reps. Greg Landsman (OH-01), Mike Carey (OH-15), and Max Miller (OH-07) to introduce bipartisan legislation to enhance a federal grant program for local law enforcement.

Currently, the U.S. Department of Justice’s COPS Hiring Program provides local law enforcement agencies with grants to hire law enforcement officers. Congressman Landsman’s bipartisan Enhancing COPS Hiring Program Grants for Local Law Enforcement Act – endorsed by the Small & Rural Law Enforcement Executives Association – would expand the COPS Hiring Program to allow local law enforcement agencies to utilize the grants for recruitment and retention bonuses, and also modify the program to allow grant applications for COPS Hiring Program grants to be valid for five years, instead of the current one year, to reduce costs and administrative burdens associated with the annual applications.

“Many of our local police departments are overwhelmed and understaffed. To help rebuild the trust between law enforcement and our communities, we must ensure our local police departments are able to recruit and retain the most experienced and responsible professionals possible. This commonsense, bipartisan grant will provide officers with the resources they need to address dangerous staffing shortages and keep the streets of Ohio’s 13th District safe,” said Rep. Sykes.

“Communities are struggling to recruit and retain law enforcement officials and this bill will help them significantly,” said Rep. Landsman. “We will be introducing similar legislation for communities to better recruit and retain firefighters.”

“Members of law enforcement put their lives on the line every day to keep our communities safe and we should do all we can to keep them safe in return,” said Rep. Carey. “Drops in recruitment combined with a high number of early retirements and resignations have strained law enforcement agencies. To help solve part of this problem, our bipartisan legislation will expand grant opportunities to law enforcement to retain and recruit additional officers and simplify the application process. I am proud to support this bill and will always back the blue.”  

“Public safety is a right, and communities depend on law enforcement to keep them safe,” said Rep. Miller. “This bipartisan bill supports our first responders by providing them with resources to address critical staffing challenges and retain the trained professionals needed to effectively deter and respond to dangerous situations.”

The full text of the Enhancing COPS Hiring Program Grants for Local Law Enforcement Act can be found here

Original source can be found here.